SHENSTON IAN 88 - Old Silhillians Association

All in all then, it can be fairly said that PDA has been a man without parallel at
Solihull.
And oh, lest we forget — he was a superb Head of Science, indeed a visiting
chemist commented on the excellence of his departmental organisation.
We all wish him a long, happy and (knowing him as we do) an extremely active
retirement.
R.J.M
Mr. S.E. Skippings M.B.E.
Stan Skippings retires this year after nearly 26 years as S.S.I., Adjutant, and
for the last three years OC the Royal Navy Section of the C.C.F. His other duties
included ordering and delivering all the School stationery and running all forms of
shooting in the School. His love of shooting can be traced directly back to his career
in the Royal Marines.
Stan joined up in 1940 and after basic training was sent to HMS Hood but
before he could take up this posting a further order gave priority to some trainee
officers. HMS Hood was totally destroyed in the North Cape battle with the
Bismarck. Stan meanwhile was doing more gunnery training and in 1942 was posted
to HMS Belfast. It was here that his penchant for accurate shooting developed for
on one occasion he, and the other gun crews, hit the target 1995 times out of 1995
rounds. Perhaps I should mention that the target was France, we were not in the
Common Market at the time, and the ship was only about a mile off shore. More
courses followed and a posting to the Pacific on HMS Implacable, an aircraft
carrier, took him into contact with the Japanese forces. Here, firing a multibarrelled
machine gun, he helped an enemy pilot achieve his second ambition.
Another carrier, HMS Glory, (on which the surrender of the South East Japanese
Forces was taken) followed and Stan became Drum Major of the Band. He led the
Victory Parade through Sydney.
Peace time saw much more training and competition shooting. His achievements
are too numerous to mention here but suffice it to say that as an individual he
won the English XX Championship, the Services Championship, and has
represented England, Great Britain, and travelled as reserve in the British
Commonwealth Team. He is also a Maltese International Shot. (Now do you know
many of those?) -
Stan came to Solihull School in December 1962 as School Staff Instructor in
the C.C.F. His talents of course tended to make him specialise in shooting, weapon
training, and drill. For twenty-five years he has organised the parades and he has
that strange ability that enables him to bark one simple order that changes a
seething mass of schoolboys into serried ranks of cadets. A stalwart at camps and
adventure training courses his compo meals (with Yorkshire Pudding of course)
have to be tasted to be believed. Above all it is his total unflappability that is so
reassuring. When all else goes wrong, Stan can stroll into the melee, pace stick at
the ready, and peace ensues.
Whilst at Solihull School Stan has been involved in many non-school activities.
Seven years with the 7th Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers, 12 years as Chairman of the
Royal Marines Association, Vice-Chairman of the Birmingham Nautical Club, and
6 years involvement in running the Midland Rifle Association. It was fitting that in
the New Years Honours Lists of 1988 he was awarded the MBE specifically for
services to the Royal Marines Association.
Recently a cadet came to the CCF Hut saying that he came to School in
uniform but had forgotten his beret. Stan bawled him out of the building. A week
later another cadet asked to purchase a beret badge. Stan gave him one with a
smile. He has always been a stickler for doing things the right way.
Beneath that gruff exterior is a man with a big heart who will do anything he
can to help you in a crisis.
We all wish Stan and Laura a long, happy, and well deserved retirement.
D.R.
Miss Eleanor Chapman
In 1955 the Professor of Metallurgy at Birmingham University wrote to Mr.
H.B. Hitchens, Headmaster of Solihull School, to recommend to him a secretary of
'outstanding ability'. He added that 'her shorthand and typing are impeccable, her
filing and book-keeping are excellent and she organises the general office duties of
a fairly large and busy department with ease and efficiency'.
These qualifications and qualities made Eleanor Chapman an ideal candidate
for the vacant post of Headmaster's Secretary and Mr. Hitchens must have had no
hesitation in appointing her to it in June of that year.
When she retired 32 years later, in December 1987, she had more than
justified the generosity of the Professor's remarks. The office system can be
observed to have undergone an immediate and highly effective transformation
from the moment of her arrival. The card index on which pupils' and parents'
details were entered preserves an immaculately presented record of each school
career. The files, sifted and pruned at appropriate intervals, amplify this and
reduce the apparent jumble of an academic year to a neat and orderly record. The
millions of words of shorthand and the typing are remarkably free from any hint of
error. The major items in the school diary (parents' evenings, choices for academic
subjects or extra-curricular activities, beginning and end of term routines) were
prepared and circulated with clarity and accuracy — but none more so than the
Speeches programme and the GCE results on which it was based. The office hours
were supposed to end at 5.15 p.m. but much of this essential record keeping and
administration was done late into the evening.
And that was because it was so difficult to achieve the peace and quiet needed
for such accurate and concentrated work. The office was always subject to
innumerable interruptions: casual enquiries about the school, anxious parents
bringing forgotten items- for immediate delivery to far-flung corners of the
buildings, worried boys seeking urgent medical assistance or money for bus fares,
persistent staff wanting two or three envelopes of varying sizes. And it has to be
remembered that during the period between 1955 and 1987 the numbers on the
school roll rose from 728 to 980 with all the extra pressures that followed from that.
There must have been easier and equally responsible posts in the area but Miss
Chapman never hankered after them. And I am sure that this was because she
loved being part of the school community. She took great delight in being a resident
of the boarding house and attending their annual Christmas suppers and
entertainments. She was an enthusiastic and regular attender of all plays and
concerts. She was a devoted supporter of the Chapel.
As the end of the Christmas Term approached, we invited Miss Chapman to
Sunday lunch — having plotted a surprise reunion with all her surviving
Headmasters (Bruce McGowan, Giles Slaughter, Denis Tomlin and myself). It was
a most happy occasion, not least because it enabled us to express together our